Fable II: Retold Chapter 7
The Hero of Strength: The Ritual "It's you; I prayed for your return, I heard what you did in Rookridge, I think you may be of great use to us" he said. "Of course father just tell what you want me to do" I said. "Come walk with me awhile" he said as I followed him out the temple doors. "Now nourishing the Golden Acorn is done with holy water from the well spring of light, but the spring is in a nearby cave which is said to be quite dangerous our sacred text says two monks must enter this cave, the strongest and a second of the Abbot choosing, obviously this concerns me especially since our strongest monk here is my own child, so instead of a second monk I've chosen a protector for the first and that's you if you're interested" he said. "I'll do it, tell me where I'll find the cave and the monk" I said as we stopped in front of a path with water and a mini water fall leading to a bigger water that lead into the lake. "The cave is just at the end of this road, you passed it on your way here, our strongest monk will be waiting for you when you're ready, now I must gather the others and prepare for the blessing" he said as I walked down the road. "Our first hero awaits us, even if they don't yet realize it" Theresa said as I made my way to the cave and heard the most beautiful voice I've ever heard singing a song as I stopped and listened to the song. "Down by the reeds, down by the reeds, swim the sirens of Oakvale, out to the seas, down by the reeds, down by the reeds, float the souls left unbroken, by White Balverines, down by the reeds, night-blooming weeds, embrace those who go dancing, in sad moonlit dreams, down by the reeds, a twisted path leads, to Banshees who breathe out, a cold winter breeze, nobody knows, nobody sees, the sirens of Oakvale, down by the reeds" she finished. Just as I followed the voice I saw a large red hair woman sitting along a broken wall of the cave ruins drinking from a brown beer bottle as she noticed me. "I knew my lovely sing voice would bring the crowds" she said taking one last drink from the bottle before tossing the bottle aside and jump down to the ground as Jake approached her. "So you're my escort then? My father said you'd be coming by" she said but before I could say anything Jake barked and the woman gasped and got to her knees. "Hey there boy, hello, oh you're a strong handsome fellow aren't you" she said in a baby talk as Jake licked her face as she ruffled his fur. "I'll feel better with you in that cave, yes I will" she said standing back up to face me. "My dog name is Jake and I'm Sparrow" I said. "I'm Sister Hannah, some people call me hammer when they think they're being clever, there not" she said in a stern voice "but I can't do much about it since I made a vow not to bash anyone face in." "Oh I see" I said. "Did my father mention that? Yeah, well whatever fighting is to be done in there is all yours" she said walking over to a large urn. "We require a hero not a pacifist monk, we'll need her to find a reason to fight" Theresa said. "I know what are we going to do?" I asked quietly. "I don't mind telling you I'm a bit envies you get all the excitement while I lug this bloody thing like some short of mule, I mean look at it, it's enormous! Golden or not how much water does a bloody acorn need!" she said. "I would carry it myself but I think that's against the rules" I said. "Anyway, after you" she said as I walked down to the cave with Hannah following behind. The inside of the cave was amazing and Hannah helped pass the time with small talk "it's amazing when you think about, no one's else has been down here for maybe a hundred years, well no monks anyway, I guess an adventurer or two could have come in but if he got out alive I didn't hear about" Hannah said as we entered a room where small orbs of lights floated above our heads. "Look up there they're lovely, I think they're called Wisps, souls of the dead that haven't left this world, it's actually rather sad isn't it?" she said. "Yeah that is sad" I said thinking of Rose as we walked into a large room with three locked gates. "Alright this should be the central chamber" Hannah said as I looked at the locked gate. "Wow I've never seen anything like this, ever" she said. "How do we open it?" I asked. "According to my father we need to go through these three doors in order to collect the water" she said as I looked at a plate on the ground that looked like the urn Hannah was carrying. "Putting weight on the pressure plates should open the door, this one the first" Hannah said standing on the plate as the gears in the floor began to move and the gate opened as the torches lit up. "There we go" Hannah said as we entered the long cave and found a room with a steep edge "alright so the plates require more and more weight as we go, luckily I've got something unbelievably heavy right here" she said as I looked over the edge to see nothing but fog at the bottom. "Careful Jake you don't want to fall into there" I said. "What do you reckon down there? Bodies maybe, even bones of the poor buggers that fell" Hannah said. "Yeah I'd hate to be this cave next victim" I said. "This cave really is quite dangerous" Hannah said as we reached a chamber with water on the floor. "This must be the first room" I said. "Now there should be two plates in this room it will take both of us to get the water flowing" Hannah said as we climbed the stairs and Hannah set up the urn to catch the water. "Now I'll stand here to catch the water and you need to stand on that one" she said pointing to the one next to her as I stepped on it and water fell to a statue as water went into the urn. "Right there it goes, oh yeah I can fell this this getting even heavier, that's nice that is" she said sarcastically "so far this isn't too bad, a couple of steep bits but that's it." "Yeah I'm starting to think this cave is harmless and your father paranoid" I said. "I really hope they find someone else to do this next time, mind you I'll be an old lady by then so I'll probably be off the hook" she said. "Yeah I'm sure they'll find someone else" I said as the room went quiet for a while. "This is probably going to be the highlight of my life, the day I carried a heavy as jug threw a cave! Hardy epic poet stuff is it?" Hannah said as I could have sworn I heard a moan "did you hear something? No probably just my imagination" she said as the fountain stopped. "I guess that's it" I said walking off my plate. "Right I reckon this all the water were going to get from this one" she said as we left the chamber and just as me and Hannah began walking the way back a Wisp went to the ground and a hand burst out as a decaying monster ross from it holding two cleavers as it roared at us with two white lights in its hollow head. "What the hell is that?" I asked drawing my sword. "A Hollow Man, an empty vessels that are controlled by Wisps, I recommend you use Inferno on it" Theresa said. "Ah, this is the part where you come in right?" Hannah asked. "Yeah just stand back, Hollow Men hate fire" I said holding a fireball in my hand "Inferno!" I said throwing the fireball as the Hollow Man burst into flames and fell over the side. "Wow! I never meet anyone who could use will before, that spell made my skin trickle" Hannah said as more Hollow Men began to appear as I pulled out my gun and began shooting at the ones running towards us. "Nice shoot!" Hannah said as I made two more turn back into bones as I saw more "I didn't know Wisps could do that" Hannah said. "Why the hell are they attacking us?" I asked. "They must be protecting the water" Hannah said as another one appeared in front of her "bloody hell!" she yelled as I grabbed it ugly head and chucked it over the edge. "And another Hollow Man bites the dust!" she said. "Yeah and more are coming" I said as we continued to move up back to the central camber as I fought large numbers of Hallow Men. "Hey you wouldn't happen to have any spells to make this jug have carry itself do you?" Hannah asked. "Sorry Hannah no levitation spells" I said as we ran back to the central camber as I let Hannah catch her breath as I watch the gate for more Hollow Man. "That was fantastic, those things didn't stand a chance" Hannah said. "Why thank you, you're the first to give me a real complement" I said. "Have you ever fought them before? It sure looked like you have that or you're a very fast learner" she said. "Fast learner never fought those things before" I said. "I don't see any Wisps now and no Hollow Men followed us, guess were safe in here" she said making her way to the second pressure plate as it opened. "Yeah this must be the only place they can go follow us into" I said. "Alright second door second plate" Hannah said as the gears quit moving and we made our way into the second chamber where my plate was on top of the stairs while hers was directly in front of the gates. "Right here the next one, I'll stand by the fountain to catch the water same as before" she said getting ready as I climbed the stairs and stepped on my pressure plate as I spotted more Wisps. "Oh shit more Wisps!" I said pulling out my gun as the water began to fill Hannah jug. "Ah brilliant we just have to wait till this thing stops running, you would think they would make this thing with a flat bottom in case you want to have a rest, but as it is it would just fall over then where would we be?" she said. "Sorry Hannah" I said as Wisps began to hit the ground. "Oh bugger here they come!" Hannah said as Hollow Men began to rise from the ground and I used my Inferno spell and gun to keep them away from Hannah. "This thing could finish anytime now!" I said hitting another Hollow Man with Inferno. "Bet that hurt, well if they can feel pain" Hannah said as the fountain finally stopped. "Good, back to the central chamber then, there should be one room left to go, so were nearly finished" Hannah said as we ran back into the chamber. "This is usually the point where the ground falls out from under your feet, be cautious" Theresa said as we made it back into the world "What in the world was that? Are you ready for whatever the hell that was" Hannah said as we walked over to the last gate. Hannah then stepped on it but it only opened a little bit but was big enough for Jake to sneak under and run off ahead "where on earth? Hey come back who knows what's on the other side" Hannah said as Jake disappeared around the corner. "Jake, get your doggy ass back here!" I yelled as he didn't come back. "You think he's all right?" she asked. "Yeah Jake is a tuff dog he'll be fine" I said as he didn't come back. "Ok I'm getting worried now" Hannah said as I saw Jake return with something in his jaw as he came back under the gate. "What you got there?" Hannah asked as Jake dropped a Hollow Man head in front of me and Hannah "oh! That's disgusting!" Hannah said. "Yuck" I said as I kicked the head away as Jake put his head down. "Oh no you're a good dog for attacking him" Hannah said as I petted his head. "Good boy Jake" I said feeding him a dog biscuit as Hannah did the baby talk again. "Who's a good boy? Who tares the heads off Hollow Men? Is it you, is it you boy?" She said as I laughed a little. "Quite a companion you got there, remind me not to let him lick me again" she said as the gate opened fully "good, shall we?" she said began to enter the last chamber. "Keep an eye out for the Wisps and Hallow Men" I said. "I'd given anything to be free from this vow" Hannah muttered as I looked towards her. "Promising?" Theresa said as I wanted to shhhh her but couldn't with Hannah around. "Don't worry things will work out Hannah" I said just as we entered the last room and the gate closed behind us and Hollow Men began to appear everywhere. "Jake, do your thing!" I said pulling my sword out as Jake began helping me take down Hollow Men. After fighting off over twenty Hollow Men, no more of them appeared but the gates remained closed as a very large Hollow Man with no head and wearing armor appeared with two cleavers. "Oh my, you can't get us out of here can you?" Hannah asked as the Hollow Man took a swing in her direction. "Shhhh" I said as the Hollow Man swung in my direction and I backed away a little I then moved towards Hannah and whispered in her ear. "Headless Hollow Men can't see so I think they can hear us somehow or sense something else we do" I said. "What should we do?" she asked. "Just stay back I'll handle him" I said as I moved behind the Hollow Man and kicked it. The Headless Hallow Man then quickly turned and swung at me as I took my sword and cut its hands clean off as I saw a blue light forming where it's head should be and was thrown back into the wall by Force Push spell. "It can use will?" I said as it reattached its hands. "Be careful!" Hannah said as the Hallow Man looked in her direction. "Inferno!" I said using a much more powerful spell then before as the Hollow Man turned back into bones. "Whew glad that's over, I was really worried for a moment, well several moments actually" Hannah said as the gates opened. "Yeah so was I" I said putting my sword back onto my back. "I…thank you, you were brilliant, on we go then" she said as we went into the last chamber. "This doesn't make any sense how in the world are two defenseless monks appose to make it out of here alive? It just doesn't make any sense" Hannah said as I thought of this. "Your right there's no way any one of those monks would have got out this place alive with all these Hallow Men" I said as we reached the last chamber. "This is it this is the final room we should be nearly done now. I know I've said that before but hopefully this time it true" Hannah said going to the hole in the ground. "I think that the last plate over there" Hannah said pointing to where I go as I moved towards it and Hannah got ready. Just as I stepped on the last plate a light shined down on Hannah as she began the ritual. "Lords of Light bless this water so with it we may give rise to new life once more, as new life rises so shall we" Hannah said pouring the water into the light going into the hole just as the gate above us began to open. Just as Hannah put in the last drop a monk came running into the room panting "Sister Hannah!" he said putting his hands on his knees. "Brother Robin what is it?" She asked while she set the jar down and I followed her up the steps. "It's your father...one of Lucien men...he's holding him hostage at the temple...he got a gun!" he said as Hannah beat me to the top. "I have to save my father!" she said breaking off a large hammer from a statue. "Okay let's go" I said heading up the steps. "Come on we have to get to the temple!" she said running off without me. "Hannah wait!" I yelled. "One of Lucien agents has come to the temple, go after her" Theresa said as I ran after Hannah. Once outside it was dark and raining and Hannah had already made it halfway up the hill "Hannah please wait!" I yelled jumping down from the exit to the cave and ran up the hill and could hear what was happening inside the temple. "Father, are you ok?" Hannah asked as I made it halfway. "He's one of Lucien men" the Abbot said. "You're coming with me or he dies" a man said in a dark voice. "Like hell I am, you let him go before I break you half!" Hannah yelled as I heard a loud gunshot. "No!" Hannah yelled as I almost reached the temple doors. "Don't make me kill you to" the man said as I saw him pointing a gun at Hannah as Hannah swung her hammer back as the man shot her in the shoulder and she bashed his skull as he grunted. I stood in the temple doors drenched in water as Hannah fell to her knees before her father lying in a pool of blood and began to cry covering her face with her hands. "Father...I could have stopped him!" she cried as she began to cry louder "you idiot! You stupid fool!" she yelled as I knew it wasn't directed towards me "I could have stopped him before he..." she said as she began sobbing as I got down on my knees and brought Hannah head to my shoulder as I let her cry knowing all too well how she feels. After the rained had cleared and the sun was up we buried the Abbot on a hill as the Golden Acorn stood on top of the Abbot grave as a new root grew from it. Hannah was on her knees directly in front of me as she apologized to her father as me Jake and two monks made are last goodbyes. "I'm sorry father, not that I broke my vow I'm sorry I didn't break it sooner, I never did fit in with this place we both knew that, and now I'm making a new vow, Lucien will die for what he did to you, I won't break this one" Hannah said as another monk spoke. "Sister Hannah, the blessing" he said as Hannah got up from her spot and didn't make eye contact with anyone. "You do it" she said walking over to the edge of the hill and looked out towards the sea. "As new life rises so shall we, as the seed returns to the earth, so do we all" he said as they left me and Hannah who turned to them and yelled. "So that's it then? My father gone, the Golden Oak is flourishing again, so life just goes on as before does it! She yelled as I saw Theresa appear beside her. "The other monks may believe that but your eyes have been opened" Theresa said as Hannah eyes grew wide and faced Theresa. "Where did you come from? Who are you?" Hannah asked as Theresa raised her hand. "Someone who can tell you much about Lucien and where he is and what his plans are, and how you can gain your revenge, if you will listen" Theresa said. "I want to know everything!" Hannah growled. "Then come with me, Sister Hannah" Theresa said holding out her hand for Hannah to take. "Call me Hammer!" Hannah said taking Theresa hand as they both disappeared. "I've taken Hammer to the guild, you done well Sparrow; you have gathered the first of the three heroes and we are now one step closer to defeating Lucien plans, it will take some time for Hammer to overcome her grief" Theresa said. "I know" I said walking down the hill. "And longer to explain her role in Lucien downfall" Theresa said. "I know I think I'll take care of a few things before I return to the guild" I said. "Come back to the guild when you are ready" Theresa said as I looked at my missions list. "I think I'll pay a visit to the Bowerstone Cemetery" seeing a mission there as I made my way to the trolley station as got a ride back to Bowerstone Old Town.